Melting The Ice Queen's Heart
by Losa136
Summary: Katlyn was a twenty-five year old woman in hiding from the Reds. That was until the Collectors attacked Freedoms Progress leaving her the only human there. At least until Commander Shepard and her poise showed up. Pairings Miri/OC and FemShep/Jack.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

_Damn why can't this thing go any faster? _Katlyn thought to herself as she tore up the distance between her out of the way shack and the colony on her old speeder. Not an hour ago a massive thunderous crack had ripped through the atmosphere. Curious and suddenly rather nervous she'd gone to her telescope to try and find out just what the hell it was. It hadn't been heard to find. The biggest ship she'd ever seen in her twenty-five years of existence had touched down in the middle of the colony. Freedoms Progress was under attack!

Living so far away from the colony had its advantages. Wide open space with a great scenic location. Lots of non-judgmental animals for her to hang out with and live out her dream of being a veterinarian. NO people hassling her. Peace and quiet, just the way she liked it.

But it also had its disadvantages. It took her a couple hours on a speeder to go to the colony for supplies... basic food she had pretty well covered with her tiny veggie garden and she also hunted. Things like earth spices, sweets, and meds were not things she grew in her little plot. So every few weeks she'd have to make the trip to stock up at Freedoms Progress. The people left her alone for the most part; the crazy hermit-ess was something she was perfectly happy playing at. But just because she was avoiding people didn't mean she didn't like them or wanted them, FUCKING ABDUCTED BY ALIENS! Knowing there wasn't anything she could do for them she'd waited and watched. One girl with an L2 implant and a couple guns wasn't going to make a damn bit of difference other than get her killed. But watching had been heartbreaking. The fear and stress was wreaking havoc combined with her ADHD and she was having great difficulty sitting still on the speeder.

So now here she was speeding towards the colony on her old and run down machine she'd bought for as little credits as possible and was learning a great deal about mechanics in having to fix up constantly. The ship had taken off and she needed to see if anyone, anyone had been left behind. Her hands were shaking, in fact all of her was shaking and it wasn't due to the speeder. Reaching into her pouch she withdrew a chocolate cube she laced with caffeine and her meds and popped it into her mouth. It was a little recipe she's created during her time with Reds on Earth and it saved her life in the midst of a heated exchange many a time. She felt herself calming down a fraction and exhaled in relief.

Finally arriving at the colony she parked her speeder and began her search. After awhile Katlyn heard a shuttle land. She froze the door to the pre-fab unit she was currently searching through was wide open but there wasn't anything she could do about it without attracting attention._Had the aliens come back? Was it pirates who had come to take advantage of the abducted colony?_ She held her breath and pushed herself along the floor to hide.

First she heard a man say something but he was too far away for her to make it out. Then she heard a beautiful accent of a woman after him. They were getting closer to where she was hiding; she could hear the clicking of high heels and combat boots.

Clearly Katlyn wasn't hiding well enough as a woman in armor notices her and points her gun at the young girl. "Who are you? How did you get here?" Her tone was commanding it was a voice that sent a shiver down the girl's spine.

She rose with her palms in front of her showing that she was not a threat, "I'm Katlyn Westen, please don't shoot! I was outside the colony when I saw this huge ship touch down, I ran home to use my telescope to try and see what was going on. I saw these aliens that had guns and they were defiantly not Batarians taking everyone. When it left, I came here as fast as I could to see if I could find anyone but I haven't…, I haven't been able to find anyone," Katlyn's voice was ragged and she was fighting back tears with everything that has happened and now a bunch of strangers were holding her at gunpoint.

"Why were you outside of the colony?" The leader asked narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"You see, I live out there because I'm not much of a people person." She replied glancing in the direction of her house and wanting to just curl up in bed pretending this hadn't happened.

"Well Katlyn why do you have those guns on you?" The leader asked.

Katlyn looked back at her and shrugged, "Force of habit, I guess. I grew up on Earth in the San Francisco slums. I was a part of the 10th Street Reds until I turned 17 and finally had enough money to get here. I live here, well out there and while it's a nice world it's still dangerous living on your own."

"You were part of the Reds; did you know an Evelyn Parks?" The leader in armor asked lowering her gun slowly.

Katlyn nodded but with a bit of a frown wondering how this woman knew that name. Cautiously she replied, "I've heard of her. I heard she went into hiding after she killed one of the Lieutenants. She became quite the legend amongst the Reds."

"So you know why she killed Betty?"

The girl nodded again and said, "From what I heard, Betty had someone kill Parks' girlfriend Rosa and when Parks found out she gunned Betty down. I don't remember why Bitchy Betty had Rosa killed, I'm afraid, and for Parks only being a 12 year old that was pretty impressive. Then she disappeared."

"Well besides the guns are there anything else we need to know about you?" The man asked lowering his gun as well.

"I'm a Biotic and I'm pretty decent at making singularities, I was implanted with a stolen outdated L2 when I was nine at the same time as my sister was when we joined the Reds together. Once we adjusted we taught each other how to use our biotics and do all the fancy moves as well. I also have a pretty good understanding on how to hack stuff for credits and data." She answered, wondering why the man was asking her that at all.

"Alright, how about you come with us, Katlyn?" The leader said obviously not trusting to leave her there. She looked to the man, who nodded and she turned her gaze to the other woman, who was clenching her jaw.

The other woman with the strange but gorgeous accent didn't look happy so Katlyn tried to light the mood."Excuse me ma'am, you know if you keep making that face it's going to freeze that way," she said cheekily.

"Don't call me that, my name is Miranda Lawson, that's Jacob Taylor and Commander Lenn Shepard." Miranda growled at the girl, clearly annoyed by the interaction.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance _**Miss. Lawson**_." Katlyn said with a bow and a smart ass smirk, which made Shepard and Taylor smirk, Miranda just glared at her and walked out the other door.

"Burrrr... What's her problem?" She asked as she ran her hands up and down her arms pretending to be cold.

Jacob smiled, "Don't take offence, she's always like that."

"Eh, I've met worse, hell I've been worse." Katlyn shrugged nonchalantly. It seemed that they'd warmed up to her enough they weren't about to shoot her anymore, much to Katlyn's great relief.

"What do you mean?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Being nice, cute, and cuddly in the Reds was just begging to be raped. To the men, all you are is a pair of tits and ass that could be groped anytime. That's mostly the reason why I started to carry a gun. Most guys would leave me alone, but the ones that were too drunk, too stupid, or even a combination of both, they were the ones I usually had to send flying into a wall, with a knee to the groin." He blanched, "So fair warning if we ever go to a bar, got it?" He nodded quickly, understanding completely. Lenn smirked as he walked away to join Miranda.

"Come on, let's join them and get this over with." Katlyn nodded and followed Lenn outside; she smiled at Miranda who just rolled her eyes as they followed Lenn and Jacob to the door. That's when she heard the whirl of machines she didn't know if the others heard it but she heard them on her right and in front.

"Oh shit! Get down guys, mechs ahead and on the stairs." She yelled as she sprinted behind a barrier and shot at the ones across the gap, while everyone else shot at the FENRIS and LOKI mechs on the stairs. Soon all was quiet.

"They should have recognized us as human." Jacob said as he walked to the next door.

"They were reprogrammed to attack anything that moved." replied Lenn with her Omni-tool lit up.

"I don't like this." Miranda said wearily.

"Neither do I, apparently I'm not the only one left here." Katlyn shivered, they nodded in agreement. They continued passing through buildings until they came across a group of Qurians that were huddled over a deactivated mech.

"Halt Cerberus..."

"Prazza put your weapon down now we don't... Lenn is that you? You're alive?"

Lenn smiled recognizing that voice and said, "Tali did that geth data get you on the Neema?"

"Lenn it is you and yes it did." The Qurian sounded very relieved as she ran into Lenn's arms and hugged her.

"It's okay Tali." She whispered pulling her closer and they rocked back and forth.

Katlyn frowned at Miranda who still hadn't lowered her gun. She walked over and put her right hand on Miranda's gun and her left on the woman's shoulder, Miranda glared at the girl but Katlyn ignored her, tightening her grip on the woman's shoulder and she whispered,

"Please put it down, we don't need any more trouble than what we already have; they are probably just looking for someone on their pilgrimage." Everyone looked at her like she suddenly grew another head,

"You know Veetor?" Tali asked as she let go of Shepard.

"Umm... no I don't, all I know is there was a male Qurian here on his pilgrimage. I heard he was skittish and figured he'd be the reason why a bunch of Quraians would be here." Katlyn shrugged like it was no big deal.

Miranda finally lowered her gun and she released her grip on her with a nod and walked up to stand next to Lenn.

"Who are you?" Tali asked cautiously.

"My name is Katlyn Westen, I live outside the colony." She replied as they shook hands.

"Tali, why were you ready to attack Miranda and Jacob?"

"Their people attacked the Flotilla." Prazza yelled as he stepped closer to Miranda, on instinct Katlyn stepped in front of him. Miranda was surprised by the young girl's actions as she growled at him,

"BACK OFF right now or so help me dude, I will biotically throw your worthless ass so hard your grandchildren will scream, OUCH! when they're born, that or there will be no point on wasting anti-biotics on your sorry ass." She got a questioning look from the commander. "What? Just because I live alone and in a shack doesn't mean I don't do my homework. I happen to find Qurians fascinating." Katlyn returned her attention to the hostile Qurian marine, "So Prazza step back unless you want to go home in a body bag."

He did so begrudgingly.

Katlyn moved to stand next to Miranda, while Miranda just stared at the former Red silently wondering why she had just done that.

"I think we should team up to get Veetor, so I can get him home." Lenn said breaking the silence.

"I agree we'll keep in radio contact." Tali nodded and they left.

After they took down a few more drones Tali's voice came over the comm saying that Prazza wanted to get to Veetor first.

Katlyn groaned, "Of course he would, and apparently he didn't get the message that I was not to be crossed with." Lenn nodded,

"Lawson take right, Taylor take left, Katlyn and I will take point." They nodded and went to their spots. "Okay Tali open the door."

It opened and they ran in. Katlyn saw theHUGE heavy mech. "Holy Mother of God that thing is HUGE!" She yelled out turning white. Lenn looked at her and flashed a wicked grin,

"Yeah, but the bigger they are the harder they fall. Lawson use overload on its shields, Taylor help her destroy it. Katlyn, when it goes down wait for me to hit it with a singularity then you and Miranda hit it with the best warp you can make." They nodded and Miranda let an overload loose while Lenn was charging her singularity and as soon as the shield was down she threw it. "Now Katlyn, Miranda hit it with your warp." Under the combined assault it blew up in spectacular fashion.

"Get down." Katlyn said running to the side as the hunks of metal started to fall. She looked up and noticed most of it was going to rain down on Miranda, so she ran to her while Lenn ran to Jacob and they both erected a barrier over themselves and the person they ran to. Once all the shrapnel had stopped hailing down on them Katlyn knelt down next to Miranda, having noticed that she was breathing really hard. Then she saw it when Miranda looked up at Katlyn with a surprised look on her face, she had her hand covering a slash on her other arm. Now that the metal rain had finished Katlyn called over to Lenn. "Lenn throw me some medi-gel, Miranda got clipped pretty good in the arm."

"I'm alright Katlyn; really it's just a scratch."

"No you're not, now hold still so I can see it, or I will put you in a stasis field." Lenn and Jacob laughed as they came closer, she handed her the tube and she set it down by her feet. She looked at the wound and it was deeper than it had originally appeared. "Okay this is pretty deep so I might need another just in case." She said as she opened the tube. "This might be a little cold, are you guys alright?" Katlyn asked them as she applied it to Miranda's wound, Miranda hissed softly when it came into contact with her skin.

"We're good Katlyn just a couple scrapes."

"Jacob and I will go ahead and help Veetor, you take care of Miranda, and I'm sure Tali's taking care of what's left of her team." Lenn said as she continued helping Miranda, they nodded and she watched them walk to the garage where Tali said Veetor would be. Miranda was looking away from her and was quietly seething.

"Miranda what did I tell you about clenching your jaw like that? Just so you know that is not good to do. Just relax okay." Katlyn shirked at Miranda.

Miranda glared at the ex-red and noticed she had ripped a piece of her shirt off, she was able to catch a glimpse at the bottom of a tattoo but she couldn't tell what it was.

"I'm serious until that stuff kicks in its best to keep it covered so it doesn't get infected. So I need you to relax you arm so I can tie this around it." Miranda nodded as she went about doing so.

"You should have said something about your barriers being down; if I didn't run over here as soon as I did you would've been Swiss cheese right now. There that should do until we get back to the shuttle."

"What do you mean us?"

"You honestly think that I'm going to stay in this ghost town, Hell Fucking No! I'm coming with you guys. Now up and at'em, let's go join the Commander and Taylor." She stood up and offered her hand to the older woman, she took it and Katlyn pulled her up.

Miranda was a little exhausted from the fight so she actually collided into Katlyn. Katlyn braced herself and snickered. "I guess that warp you made just about kicked your ass just as much as the mech's, here I got something that will help you." she said as she shifted Miranda so her good arm was on Katlyn's shoulders and she reached into her special cold pouch, grabbing a piece of her chocolate.

"What is it?" Miranda asked looking at the piece of candy. Katlyn giggled and held it between her index and thumb.

"Its animal shit, what do you think it is? Wait you never had chocolate before?"

"My Father never allowed me to have any sweets." She replied as she shook her head.

"Well this here piece of chocolate has enough caffeine in it to equal 3 cups of coffee. You see I can't stand the taste of it and I needed something to keep me going when I was with the Reds. Currently because I'm out here I can't get the medicine I need to control my ADHD without visiting a real doctor and not the basic doctors we had here well before all this. So at least once a month, I would go out and buy a few bars of it, melt them down, add the coffee extract along with some stuff for my biotics, and refreeze them. Now open your mouth unless you want me to eat it and drag your heavy ass back to the shuttle. I would carry you but your too damn tall compared to me, it's a miracle that I am able to hold you up right now." Katlyn said with a subtle teasing tone in her voice.

She glared at her as she started to bring the candy to her mouth. Katlyn smiled when she noticed the blush starting to form on Miranda's cheeks as she watched her, when she was about say something Katlyn popped the candy into her mouth. Her eyes went wide from the intrusion and chewed on it. A few moments later she was able to stand on her own.

"Better?" Katlyn asked the grumpy looking operative. Miranda nodded reluctantly.

"Good now let's go." She said as she walked away and to the place where Shepard and Taylor went. They were joined by Tali as they walked to the door. She nodded to Lenn who nodded back. An hour later Lenn finished talking to Tali and Veetor, they helped them to their shuttle and watched as the shuttle took off, before they headed to their own. "I'm coming with you, I can't hide here anymore, and I'm not going to wait around for slavers to show up." Lenn stopped and looked at Katlyn.

"What do you mean by hide?"_Fuck!_ She thought. _Well I guess I have no choice but to tell them._I grasped my hands together and took a deep breath, "Yeah, you see I have been hiding here for almost 3 years."

"Why?" Miranda asked,

"Fuck!" She muttered under her breath, sighing she said, "Okay how about we take off first, then I will tell you." They nodded and they climbed in.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Okay now spill." Lenn ordered once everyone got settled.

"Okay, you know how I told you I was a part of the Reds?" They nodded. "Yeah that was true; I was one of their top Lieutenants, the most cold and unfeeling one in fact. Anyone who crossed me ended up dead. I was on my way to a meeting when my second attacked me along with a few of my girls; no guy underlings I couldn't trust them to stay focused. Only girls all were as beautiful and deadly as the next."

Katlyn smile wistfully, "She was angry because she was made my second instead of my superior, that and my boss made her a sweet deal. He always hated how I ran my clubs and would have nothing to do with his drugs. My 'lover', heh yeah right, came after me with a knife. Even though I was beyond pissed I was proud that she finally grew a back bone but she forgot who she was attacking. I dropped kicked her and my girls leaving them all unconscious. Then the night before I hopped on a shuttle to my home here, I found his greasy ass at his place eyeing me up. He walked up to me and grabbed my ass. Filthy man..." she spat, "He had his disgusting hands all over me, as I told Jacob earlier no man is allowed to lay a finger on me without my permission." Jacob nodded as to say she had and she nodded back to him. "So while I tried not to gag on his breath I threw him so hard out his window he ended up landing right in the middle of the street with a splat. I laughed as I boarded my shuttle with nothing but the clothes on my back."

As this memory played in her head, she was smiling even though there was no reason for it. "Once it took off I broke down in tears, because the woman I loved just betrayed me. That's why I was in hiding because I did the same thing as Evelyn," She looks Lenn straight in the eyes as she said it. Lenn nodded and Katlyn ran her fingers through her short dark brown hair. "And that's why I'm coming with you; I need to atone for all my sins. That is if you'll let me." Lenn nodded her approval and Katlyn smiled. Soon they arrived at a station, and then they climbed aboard the SR-2. Lenn and Katlyn met EDI, and Katlyn met Joker. He is probably going to be the only human male she was going to like, he's really funny.

"Katlyn what do you think we should do first?" Lenn asked. Miranda had said that they should get Mordin on Omega, which was reasonable but Katlyn needed clothes and upgrades if she was going to stand a chance against mercs and Collectors.

"Well getting the Professor is logical, but I think we should head to the Citadel first and get your status restored because of Miranda, Jacob, and the crew being part of Cerberus and we all know how the galaxy sees them. Also I'm in need of tech upgrades something awful. I'd like your help with that Miranda, if you're willing?" Katlyn asked with a small smile.

"Alright we're going to the Citadel, Miranda when we get there help her out."

"Yes commander," she replied giving a curt nod.

"Can anyone tell me where the Med-Bay is? I need some sleep which means I need meds to replace the ones still at the colony." Katlyn asked with a yawn.

"Why didn't you say something?" Miranda asked, looking a little irked.

She shrugged, "Miranda I didn't want to stay there any longer than necessary, and it was giving me the creeps. So can you show me the way, I'd appreciate it and you probably should get that checked, the mech got you good." She nodded and pointed to the elevator. "So Miranda... tell me about yourself. I told you my past, who are you hiding from?" She asked when the doors shut.

"What makes you think I'm hiding from anyone?" She asked standing ram-rod straight, with a cautious tone in her voice.

"Let's see you look like you come from a wealthy family and when I told you guys about why I was in hiding your posture changed as I talked, so it's your turn to spill," she said smiling cheekily.

"Okay, I'll tell you a little but you have to earn more of my trust before I tell you more." Katlyn leaned against the wall and nodded to say she understood the rules. Miranda took a deep breath and began her story. "I was not born as you were; I was created in a lab from a sample of my father's tissue. He had his Y chromosome altered with an amalgam of desired traits from other sources, then as I got older he had made further alterations put in place to allow for my biotics. Everything you see is engineered from my looks and high IQ to my biotics. The egomaniac didn't want a daughter; no he wanted a dynasty and a slave, the perfect slave. When I was seventeen I ran away and joined Cerberus." She said with an undertone of pain in her voice.

"Makes sense... So that cut's probably just a pink mark by now, right?" Miranda watched as Katlyn reached up to untie the scrap of cloth that was still around her arm, and sure enough all there was, was a thin pink line in between the tear in her suit. "I guess so; well at least you'll have a chance to change... whoa." She said suddenly feeling lightheaded and bumped into Miranda.

"Of course now it affects me." Her head started to swim causing her to lose her balance.

"What?" Miranda asked with concern.

"My L2 when I use too much of my biotics I get really lightheaded and dizzy. What's worse is because of my ADHD I have trouble getting the necessary rest that I need. It's a real pain in the ass, so if you could help me to the Med-Bay and to a bed that would be wonderful." Katlyn murmured, rubbing her head as the dizziness threatened to have her tip over again.

Miranda sighed but smiled as she guided the girl to Dr. Chakwas.

"Hey doc can I get some meds to calm me down so I can get some sleep." Katlyn asked as she hanged off of Miranda.

"Miss Lawson, who do you have with you?" The older woman asked looking at Miranda.

"This is Katlyn Westen; she was on Freedom's Progress when we got there. She's an L2 like Kaiden and she used a lot of her biotics today so she needs some sleep."

"Of course give me one moment." She replied as she got up to grab a bottle for Katlyn. She handed it to her, and Miranda then guided her to the Observation deck near Life Support. She set Katlyn down on the couch closest to the bar and left to grab her pillow and blanket. She returned and handed them to the girl.

"Thanks for your help Miranda. Someone is going to have to come in here to wake me, just tell who ever does to take a piece of my chocolate and put it into my mouth, don't ever shake me because I have a tendency to biotically punch as a defense mechanism. Have a nice night Miranda." She ended with a yawn; the meds were kicking in fast. She nodded and left, when the door closed behind her Katlyn stripped to her undergarments, sent for her clothes to be cleaned and took off her pack setting it next to the pills. She laid back down and as soon as her head hit the pillow she was out like a light.

She was just starting to wake up when she felt her mouth opening and the candy placed into it. Katlyn chewed and swallowed, then sat up, stretched, and wiped the sleep out of her eyes. When Katlyn finally opened her eyes her mind was still not working as fast as her mouth so when Katlyn saw Miranda standing there she said, "Good morning beautiful." Ah crap she thought as Katlyn blushed and looked up to her, Miranda wasn't amused at all but Katlyn also noticed the faint pink in her cheeks below the dark circles under her eyes. "Sorry that happens some time. Hey Miranda, have you gotten any sleep at all?"

"My gene alterations allow me the need of very little sleep." She stated matter-of-factly.

"Well your face says otherwise my friend. Those bags get any bigger you'll be walking on them."

Miranda just rolled her eyes at Katlyn.

Katlyn hated that it's just as bad as Jack's constant Fuck You's. "Would you stop rolling your eyes, it's extremely rude. Alright you woke me up, how about you take a piece for yourself, you look like you could use it."

Miranda rolled her eyes again.

Now Katlyn was getting pissed so she stood up not ashamed that she was only in her bra and boy-shorts and invaded her space, "Miranda, you roll your eyes one more time at me, I will slap you in the back of your head. I consider it an insult and I don't tolerate spoiled brats even if they are older and taller than me, but since I happen to like you I have put up with it so far. Keep it up and you'll be on your ass faster than you can say Sovereign. Got me?" She glared at the girl. Katlyn took a deep breath and let it go. Miranda puffed out her cheeks in anger but said nothing.

She softened her face and said, "Miranda I grew up on Earth, I've seen things that I wish I hadn't and the same for some of the thing I've done. I've met several people who thought they were better than the rest of us, and they treated us really bad because of it. I took it because I couldn't do anything about it, that was until I became a secondary boss to the Reds. I was just like you cold and unfeeling; I used people to get my way as I'm sure you have since you joined Cerberus. Let me tell you something Miranda..." She ran a hand through her short hair and sat back down, "My life wasn't sunshine and rainbows, and from what you told me about your father yours was just as much of a living hell as mine. So please just don't, okay?" She looked up at the raven-haired woman with tired eyes and Miranda nodded. Katlyn smiled and nodded back, and then she reached for her pack and grabbed her a piece. Then she felt the room shake as the clamps connected.

"Well you should head on up, I'll be there in fifteen." She took the offered candy and popped it into her mouth as she walked out the door. Katlyn stood up and pulled her slacks on, her white tank and finally the button up that now had a corner missing from tying it onto Miranda's arm. As she sat down to pull on her sneakers Katlyn saw a flicker out of the corner of her eye. "Hey, who the hell are you?" There was another flicker as her cloak disappeared.

"Excuse me? Oh I'm Kasumi Goto." The Japanese girl replied.

Katlyn shook hand with her, "Oh sorry, where are my manners, my name is Katlyn Westen. It's nice to meet you. Sorry but I have to go meet the commander outside, make yourself comfy I got the couch over there, you can have the bed."

Kasumi's smile grew to a grin as she went about placing her stuff around the room.

The first thing Katlyn noticed from Kasumi's belongings were the books, real paper filled books. "Wow you got real books. That must be a pain to stay on the move them."

"Sometimes it is, but there's just something about the smell of old paper and the feel of the pages between my fingers." her smile brightened as she said that.

"That sounds nice. Well I have to go join the rest of them now, see you later," she said as she left to get into the elevator. Before she got to it there was this smell in the air and Katlyn guessed that was coming from the Mess. Hold your breath Katie; I am not going to eat whatever that is. She said to herself as she stepped inside the elevator. Finally the doors closed and she gasped for fresh air. Katlyn got off the elevator she nodded to Miss. Chambers, Lenn's yeoman, who nodded back with a bubbly smile. The ex-red walk out of the airlock and could see the three of them waiting for her, she gave them a sheepish grin and said, "Hey guys, sorry I took so long. I was having a chat with my new roomy. It's been a long time since I shared a room to sleep in with another person."

"So you have already met Miss. Goto?" Lenn asked with a grin.

"Yes she came in a little after Miranda left, shall we get going?"

"Yeah let's head out." Lenn said as she walked into what looked like a checkpoint with a scanner. Suddenly the alarms start to blare causing her to cover her sensitiveness ears, she could never handle shrill noises.

"Of course the scanner would buzz when I need to get somewhere quickly," Lenn muttered under her breath.

"Sorry for the delay ma'am, but the scanner seems to think your dead," the turian said looking apologetically.

"I was listed MIA a few years ago."

"Of course ma'am, please talk to Captain Bailey." She nodded and they walked through the door. They talked a little and he pressed a button so they could get a move on.

"Okay Jacob and I will go to the meeting, Miranda go with Katlyn and help her out." They nodded and watched them walk to the taxi terminal.

"Well shall we Miss. Lawson?" Katlyn's tone was teasing and she extended her arms with a bow in the direction they were heading.

Miranda nodded with an annoyed look on her face and led them to the tech shop.

A few minutes after they left the shop Katlyn's stomach made a noise; she blushed but then heard a similar noise come from Miranda. Katlyn grinned up at her, and said "Well I guess Gardner is a rather crappy cook, that or the food was crap to begin with. Come on I saw a ramen shop down stairs, I'm buying." She said as she walked to the lower deck.

"I fine Katlyn." She insisted as Katlyn continued to walk and their stomachs made another noise, Katlyn smirked.

"I think your stomach says otherwise. Besides Miranda being a biotic means we have to eat a lot so we don't end up having a warp blow up in our face."

Miranda glared at the young girl and tried to swing at her but Katlyn ducked out of the way and she put her hands up.

"Hey now there's no need to get grouchy Miranda, that wasn't an insult on your intelligence. So come on I'm hungry, you're hungry, and it will give us a chance to talk some more. I'm sure you got more questions and no doubt you saw a part of my tat when I ripped my shirt the other day. I, myself have some questions I'd like to ask you. So I'll make you a deal, I buy us some lunch, while we're there you ask a question I answer it, then I get to ask a question and you have to answer truthfully no hiding or lying. I'll extend the same kindness."

"Okay Katlyn, I guess I could use a little something." She said trying to keep up. Ah, the beauty of being so young and in sneakers.

"Good now hurry up I get grouchy when I'm hungry." She smiled as Miranda came up beside her. They soon arrived and she chose to sit in the corner of the bar to keep an eye out for danger. They ordered and Miranda started off with her questions.

"What did you do when you first joined the Reds?" Starting with the easy ones first. Fine by me.

"I was an infiltrator and a ruffian. I was small but I was a hell cat if someone came after my mentor/boss, no joke the nickname she gave me was "Kitty" it's not exactly one I liked but it did do its job well enough. She had me go under cover with other kids to steal tech for her boss, but it's been a long time since then. I'm not as good as I use to be at that stuff, too many years of shooting people and giving orders. So why Cerberus? You don't seem like a xenophobe."

"My Father donated generously to them, well until I joined them. That's how I heard of them and they gave me protection from my father." She was about to ask her next question when their food came. Katlyn handed her a pair of chopsticks and grabbed a pair for herself. She grabbed up some noodles and started to eat. Katlyn popped a piece of beef in to her mouth, looking up she saw that Miranda was having a little trouble.

She smiled a little, "Here let me show you."

"I can handle it," she replied sounding annoyed.

"Okay, but by the time you actually get it your food will be cold. So just let me show you." Katlyn said as she got up and stood behind her. She reached forward to gently take hold of Miranda's hand, taking the chopsticks away and held it so her fingers were on top of the older woman's. She got distracted for a moment from Miranda's scent; she shook her head to focus. Placing one stick into her hand Katlyn explained, "You see you hold the bottom like a pencil then you place the other on top and use your thumb and index to grab your food, see?"

"Yes I think I got it now, thank you," She responded quietly. Katlyn didn't have to looking at Miranda to know that she was making her blush.

"Anytime. So what's your next question?"

"I guess I was wondering why you only had a female crew?"

Katlyn mentally groaned because she knew it was going to be brought up. She sighed and said, "I knew that was coming, well first of all for most of my time on Earth I had to fight to survive. It's near impossible staying an innocent kid for long. Don't get me wrong I like men but I just didn't trust them to keep their eyes and hands to themselves, you know how it is. Well anyways my job as a ruffian quickly ended after my thirteenth or fourteenth birthday and these babies started to show."

Katlyn pointed to her chest. "I was no longer seen as a fighter; nope as soon as they showed up I was put into the clubs and was taught how to shake my ass on stage and on the poles as a stripper. Cops didn't care that we were under age, hell some of them indulged in deflowering a few of us. They all loved watching me dance but if they touched me they got hurt badly. One night I was walking home and one of my regulars ambushed me and raped me, I killed him after he was done in a blind rage but the deed was already done. When I was given control of a few clubs after my fifteenth birthday, I made a rule. If someone tried to do that to one of my girls I told my punisher to take off their hand but if the girl had given them permission to touch they could. Eventually they learned that's why I only had girls in my crew." She said as she thought back and a small bald girl popped into her head which caused Katlyn to giggle.

"What's so funny am I still not holding them right?" Miranda asked with a frown.

Katlyn shook her head and smiled, "No you're doing great, I was thinking about this girl that was quite literally thrown to me when she joined. They wanted her as a dancer but when she arrived she was screaming about how she wasn't going to dance, how she was going to kill whoever was going to make her. I loved her attitude, her fire and biotics, and her vocabulary ohhh... Be still my little black heart she was blunt, vulgar, and straight to the point. I knew from the moment she was pushed into my office, she would be my punishment dealer. She couldn't be more than three years older than me. I called her Joy irony was that she was a complete BITCH, she always yelled at me when I called her that, told me to call her Jack. She was the one who did this tat."

She said while lifting her shirt. "I had her do two doves with my name and Jen's name in them."

She looked down to see it and said, "Wow that's beautiful, she did good work. Who's Jen?"

"Oh no, it's my turn."

"Okay." She sighed.

"Any other relatives besides your father?" She straightened and flashed her eyes at Katlyn, and then she looked around the room.

"No I don't." The response was too quick, too defensive.

Katlyn leaned in to whisper in Miranda's ear in case someone was watching. "You're lying Miranda."

Miranda's eyes widened as Katlyn's hand without the chopsticks went up to her shoulder.

Katlyn whispered, "If I could guess since you came from money and because of what you told me of your father and why you joined 'them', I would bet you have trouble trusting people because you're worried he might pay them off to find whoever your hiding, right?"

Miranda nodded and looked down, not wanting to make eye contact with Katlyn and surprised at how easily the girl could read her.

Katlyn continued, "Miranda I might have grown up on the street where bribes were happening in broad daylight, but I know what it means to be loyal so you can trust me when I say. You have nothing to fear I would tell you if I was ever contacted by someone out to hurt you." The girl sat back after she gave Miranda a reassuring squeeze.

"Okay, I do have another relative. A sister but that's all I'm going to tell you. I might tell you more later, but we will see." Miranda's tone was stern and demanded no further enquiries on the matter.

"I understand Miranda; I will respect your wishes and drop it for now." She smiled, Katlyn took her hand and smiled knowing it took Miranda a lot to just tell her that small bit.

"Miranda, I promise if you ever need my help with anything, anything at all, you can come to me. Even if it's just to vent. I make a great sparring partner. Just so you know."

Miranda actually gave a small smile, "Thanks for the food and the talk. Is there anything else you need here?"

"Well I was thinking I should get some more clothes since this is all I have with me and I might need some light armor, or at least a better shield for just in case my barriers fail."

"Okay, let's get some clothes and I have a contact that can get the top of the line shields for you."

"Thank you for your help today," Katlyn beamed up at Miranda as she got up and paid for their meals. "Ready?" she asked once the payment cleared.

"Yes." Miranda replied as they made their way to the clothes store.

Katlyn got some jeans, a couple tees and tank tops, a leather jacket, and pair of shades that she'll have the doc adjust so they're also double as her glasses. "You know Miranda it's kind of nice to let my walls down, you know?"

"Yeah it's a little strange for me." She blushed a little.

Katlyn wrapped her arm around Miranda's and smiled, "Let me guess, you're an all work and no play kind of girl?"

Miranda nodded and didn't pull away from the girl.

I got you now Miranda, you will never have to worry again, Katlyn thought to herself. "You know Miranda; I like you even more when your walls are down."

She leaned toward her to whisper in the girl's ear, her accent becoming thicker. "Thank you, Katlyn."

Katlyn blushed and shivered from the sultriness in her voice and the feel of Miranda's warm breath on her neck. "You're very welcome Miranda." Katlyn said as they continued their way back to C-sec. "I'll tell Lenn that we're heading back the Normandy. No doubt she will be needing to grab a few things before we go to Omega."

"I heard Gardner has asked her to pick up some better food here."

"Good I almost passed out from the smell of whatever he was making this morning when I got on the elevator. Weird your boss spent all that money to bring back her and build the new Normandy, but he cheaps out on the food. We should boycott. Though I can't complain considering most of my life, so far at least, has been spent with an empty stomach."

"You know, Katlyn you never answered my question earlier."

"I guess I didn't." She sighed and tried not to cry as she spoke, "Remember that girl I told you about, the one that turned on me?" she nodded, "That was her, that was Jen. She was my right hand girl, I never went anywhere without her. I loved her, but my boss made her a deal she wasn't willing to refuse. I trusted her; I thought I had her loyalty, her trust, her love, but no... The only reason she loved me was because she wanted to get ahead in the gang." Katlyn sniffed a little trying to keep the tears from falling when she felt Miranda squeeze her arm. Katlyn looked up at her and whispered so only she could hear her. "I know how it feels to be betrayed by someone you care about and I didn't like it at all. So you can trust what I said earlier, I'll never betray you Miranda. I'd rather die first."

"Why? Why would you promise something like that to someone you've only known a few days?" She froze as she asked that question.

Katlyn stood tall in front of her and said, "I will tell you later, there are too many ears here." She placed a chaste kiss on Miranda's cheek and walked to the airlock with her new clothes. Katlyn saw Miranda still standing there frozen, and watched as she brought a hand to where she had kissed her, Katlyn smiled and stepped onto the ship to go her room.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Once Katlyn arrived to her room, she got into her bags of clothes, picked out a set, grabbed her new leather jacket, and went to take a shower. After ten minutes she got out feeling so much better as she got into her new clothes. They were a plain black tee and a pair of black jogging pants. Katlyn went back to her room to grab her pair of shades and glasses, and went over to the Med-Bay. She walked through the door, "Hey Doc."

"Miss Westen, nice to see you can stand on your own today." Doctor Chakawas replied with a small smirk.

"Doc, just call me Katlyn, Katie, or anything else but my last name the only people allowed to use my last name were the Reds." Katlyn said not trying to think about the pain she had caused when she was younger.

"Okay Katlyn, you can call me Helen and what can I help you with?"

"Well first of all I wanted to thank you for the meds you gave my yesterday, my old ones never made me wake up and feel less like a bitch." Katlyn chuckled and Helen gave her a questioning look so Katlyn continued, "I was never much of a morning person. The other thing I was wondering is if you could do something with my shades to make them a cooler pair of glasses. I like my glasses and all but they don't scream BADASS BITCH, instead they say wannabe biker librarian."

"I'll see what I can do. How are you able to shoot then?" Helen had a worried look on her face.

Katlyn rubbed the back of her neck nervously, "My eyesight is not that bad, I just can't read at a distance and I still can see the bad guys just not any defining features is all."

"Alright I should have them done by tomorrow, and I need to perform a physical on you, since you are joining us. I might be able to upgrade your amp so you don't have to worry about your biotics knocking you out."

"Alright Helen, I'll get that physical done when I come to get my glasses tomorrow and we can talk about the amp while you do it. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes Katlyn, see you tomorrow." Katlyn waved over her shoulder as she walked out the door and went back to her room to relax for a little while. When the door opens she found Kasumi curled up on her couch with a faraway look and the look of tears on the visible part of her face. Seeing Kasumi like this confused her a little, she wondered why the thief was so upset. She wanted to try and cheer Kasumi up but she didn't know how. Then Katlyn remembered she'd gotten some Sake for her and Kasumi to share when she got back from shopping with Miranda, and Kasumi looks like she could go for a drink or two.

So Katlyn went over to her shopping bags and pulled out the bottle of Sake that Miranda didn't see her buy when they went to lunch. She walked over to the bar, grabbed a few glasses and walked over to Kasumi's side. She knelt down, tapping on ninja's shoulder she asked, "Hey Kasumi, guess what I got for us?"

"What do you have Kat?" she asked with a sniffle trying to pretend that she was just crying and failing at it. Katlyn smiled a little at her, trying to lift her spirits.

"I got us a bottle of Sake, want some?" She asked in a cheerful voice.

"Sure." Kasumi shrugged with a small watery smile. Kasumi sat up and pulled down her hood to show her black hair that was the same length as Katlyn's along with her very puffy eyes.

"What or who were you thinking about?" Katlyn asked as she handed Kasumi a glass.

"What do you mean 'who'?" She sniffled as Katlyn sat down beside her.

The ex-Red took a sip of her drink and explained, "You see, I was once a gang member while I grew up on Earth, more specifically I was a Tenth Street Red. When I was 17 years old, I was on my way to a meeting with the other lieutenants, when my girlfriend/second in command tried to kill me. I knocked her unconscious and walked away. I thought I could trust the BITCH," Katlyn spat, startling Kasumi in the process, the after taking another sip of the liquid she continued, "Sorry, anyways when I first boarded my shuttle off Earth I was laughing, but after awhile I broke down in tears because I did love her and it hurt me a lot to know I would never see her again even though I might kill her if I ever do. So when I asked who you were thinking about was because I had that look after I left. Sometimes even now I miss her but I know I could never trust her again. You don't have to tell me, it wasn't my place to ask, I'm sorry." Katlyn grabbed Kasumi's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Have you ever heard about a thief named Keiji Okuda?" Kasumi asked quietly,

"I knew a Keiji but not his last name. I was like 8 or 9 at the time and I was a thug/hacker for the Reds and a pretty good on too. He had hacked some data off of my first boss, I'm not really sure what it was but I guessed he was hired by one of the rival gangs to steal some of our "Business" plans. He was sloppy and ended up leaving a trail that lead straight to him. I confronted him, but because I was so young he didn't believe I had the guts to shoot him with the gun I had pointing at him. He was wrong, I wasn't afraid to kill him. Actually I only used guns for intimidation; my main skills were my biotics and knives. He ran to another room and before he got one foot out the window I biotically pulled him to a wall on the other side of the room, and used a couple of my knives to make sure he couldn't get down. He turned ghostly white, when I finished I said, 'Sir now that was very sloppy of you. You left yourself wide open.'

He told me he was really new at that stuff, I told him I could've done it in my sleep and not leave a trail. Honestly I didn't want to kill him; he seemed like a decent guy. So I decided I'd teach him everything I knew if he gave me back the data. He agreed and I expected him to knock me out and run, since he was taller and stronger than me, but he kept his word and I spent the rest of that day showing him everything. When he left he thanked me for sparing him. I told him if he tried to steal something from the Reds again I might have to actually hurt him. We laughed, I had tried to keep tabs on him but my program was found and removed about a year ago."

"Oh it was your program, yeah I was fiddling with his Omni-tool when I saw that one program wasn't his so I removed it because I was worried it was a tracker, sorry." she looked down sheepishly.

"Wait you knew Keiji?" Katlyn looked shocked though she wasn't really surprised. Keiji was a good looking guy when she was younger; she bet that he got very handsome over the years. Katlyn smiled at Kasumi, "That's okay, I understand. To tell you the truth I was surprised he left it there for so long. I had originally designed it, to alert me if he was ever within a 30 mile radius of me. If it did I would watch over him to make sure he wasn't getting in over his head. If he did I was going to slap him for being an idiot."

Kasumi smiled and another tear fell. "Hey, come here Kas." Katlyn said as she opened her arms, Kasumi set her empty glass down and crawled over. Katlyn leaned forward and placed her glass next to the ninja's and the bottle. Katlyn pulled Kasumi closer to herself; Kasumi had her head tucked under Katlyn's chin as she wrapped her arms around Kasumi's shaking body. Katlyn rubbed her back as she cried into Katlyn's shirt. "It's okay Kas, let it all out. I'm just a couch away if you ever need to talk or vent, okay?" Katlyn felt her nod into her chest as she continued to shake as the sobs racked through her body.

Half an hour later Kasumi had fallen asleep. So Katlyn gathered her up in her arms and walked around Kasumi's couch to her bed, Katlyn wasn't really surprised by how much Kasumi weighed in her arms, being a ninja and all had the benefits of having a small body. Katlyn wasn't complaining she didn't want to wake her, so Kasumi could get into bed herself. Katlyn placed her on top of it and went about removing her boots. She stifled a giggle when she saw the pair of bright neon green socks on her feet. She placed them on the floor at the end of her bed and went about pulling the covers over her and tucked her in. "Goodnight Kasumi." She whispered, she stood up again and walked back to the table, grabbed the glasses and set them in the sink behind the bar and took the half empty bottle of Sake and hid it behind her couch.

_Well since Kas is sleeping I might as well go see Miranda_, Katlyn thought while smoothing out the wrinkles on her shirt and took off her jacket and hung it on a bar stool. Her shirt was still a little damp since Kasumi had run out of tears to cry for tonight and fell asleep about 15 minutes ago. She had only stopped shaking when she finally fell asleep. She walked over to Miranda's office/quarters and knocked on the door. "Enter." Katlyn heard Miranda say from the other side.

She pressed the pad and walked in. She had just got through the door when she stopped in her tracks at the sight of Miranda. _And I thought the catsuit was hot,_ Katlyn thought with an impish smile seeing Miranda in a white tank top and black jogging shorts with her hair in a perfect pony tail to keep it out of her way. "Oh, Katlyn, I... uhhh... was just about to come see you." Miranda stammered while trying to get over the shock of seeing Katlyn in her doorway. "Are you up for some sparring?" She asked the ex-Red.

"I'm game, but could you lend me a pair of shorts?" Katlyn asked shyly as her cheeks started to redden.

"Why?" Miranda questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I just got Kasumi to fall asleep and I might wake her up if I go back in our room, I don't want to risk it right now. She really needs her sleep, she had been really upset earlier." Katlyn replied pointing over her shoulder.

"Why was she upset?" she asked curiously.

"She lost someone important to her; he also was a friend of mine from when I was in the gang. I heard he was killed a couple months ago and she's grieving for him. He was a great guy with a good heart, well, for a thief anyway. So shorts or not?" Katlyn asked trying to make the depressing thoughts go away. Miranda noticed and walked over to her dresser and threw a pair of grey shorts to Katlyn. "Thanks Miranda, head down I'll be there in a minute." She nodded as they walked together; Katlyn went to the bathroom and put on the shorts. They were a little big on her; she rolled the waistband, so they wouldn't fall down. Katlyn grabbed her pants and took them back to Miranda's room. Soon the former red was on her way to the gym. Katlyn walked out of the elevator to find Miranda already in her pads with a gloved hand on her hip. _God! She is sooo __**sexy**__,_ Katlyn thought to herself, she shook her head knowing she needed to focus; she donned on her own pads and walked to stand in front of Miranda on the mat. "Ready?" Katlyn asked with a smirk.

"Ready. So answer my question, Katlyn, from earlier." she said as they got into their stances.

"I told you, that I was betrayed by someone that I loved very much, and it hurt, it hurt a lot. I loved Jen, she had my trust 100% and when she betrayed me it felt she ripped out my heart and laughed at me as I died. That pain I felt is something I wouldn't wish on anyone Miranda. I also know that if I ever did do that to you." Katlyn shuddered; _there would be nothing left if she hit me with her strongest warp_. Katlyn shook her head to clear her thoughts, "No, I couldn't do that to you, I can be heartless a times but that is one thing I couldn't do to anyone. Besides if I did I've got the feeling that you'd warp my ass to oblivion, and I plan on going into old age living on a nice quite colony like where Shepard was from minus the Batarian slavers and what not. Just sitting in a rocking chair with the woman I love next to me, and watching the sun set, without a care in the galaxy. What about you Miranda, planning on settling down after all this shit is done?" Katlyn asked as they circled each other. Miranda took the first swing which Katlyn dodged with ease and tapped Miranda in the ribs. _I think I'm going to mess with you, Miranda_, she thought with a smirk.

"No, I haven't really thought about it. I haven't had the time to think that far ahead, and with this being a suicide mission I really don't see the point," Katlyn watched as Miranda's smile grew the more she thought about it. "Actually that sounds like it would be beautiful, Katlyn. Now all we have to do is wipe out the Reapers and Collectors." She stated with a million watt smile.

"Yep looks that way." They circled again, eyes watching the other _closely_. Miranda swung again but Katlyn was already behind her. She tapped Miranda on her shoulder and said "Boo." Miranda spun around and she was already gone again, Katlyn smiled as she used her biotics like Kasumi's cloak. "So I was looking at the dossiers while I was helping Kasumi. I think after Omega we should go get the convict."

"Why?" Miranda asked curiously as she spun around again after Katlyn ran her gloved hand up Miranda's back.

"Because if what I read was accurate, then this is someone right up my alley. But from what I read they really don't like Cerberus. I bet Lenn will take the both of us because the Convict is a really strong biotic but, even they can't take on three on their own."

Katlyn got a wistful tone in voice, "Man if I was able to contact Jack then as soon as your boss let me join I would have gotten her ass here with us in a heartbeat. Hehe, you know what, I was actually one of the few people she left alone when she wanted out of the Reds and started to attack a lot of gang members. As I told you earlier she was 19 at the time she joined and was shoved into my office. My boss wanted her to be a dancer, but like I said earlier when I saw her, I could tell her body wasn't meant for the poles. No, the people who messed her up designed her to intimidate and kill. She had just disappeared a few months before Jen turned on me. But that year with her there was the best one I had since I'd joined the Reds. Heh, we had a blast playing pranks on the girls and on each other." Katlyn said while giggling.

She grabbed Miranda's leg, making her fall on her back. Katlyn grinned from the yelp of surprise that passed through Miranda's lips. She was looking around the room when the girl appeared on top of her while holding Miranda's hands above her head with a shit-eating grin on her face. "I win." Katlyn said as she got up and offered Miranda a hand. She took it and Katlyn pulled her up.

"How did you do that?" She asked with an underlying tone of annoyance.

"Jack taught me and it has improved over the years. See, after Jack became a criminal, she developed a skill to use her biotics as a cloak similar to what Kasumi uses but it doesn't last long." More memories flash through her head, making Katlyn smile and laugh. "When we were bored, the two of us would sneak into the dressing room and each of us would grab a girl's bra straps and snap them, then hightail it out of there. It made a lot of girls go insane, and I know this might sound a little morbid but the ones that were the funniest were the girls who were higher than a fucking kite. I actually had done it to Jack once, and I thanked God, for being able to outrun her."

"Did you ever do drugs or drink?" she asked.

"I was in a relationship with a red sand addict but I never did any kind of drugs. As for drinking, yes I've been known to have a couple shots of the liquid courage. But that only happens when I'm out partying or really stressed." Katlyn replied with a hint of sadness. Katlyn started to take off her gear and Miranda did the same.

Miranda turns to Katlyn and says, "Thanks for the spar Katlyn."

She looked over to Miranda, "You're welcome Miranda, and we should do it again some time when you're not really busy. Being Shepard's XO has to be a little hard."

"I always love a good challenge." Miranda replied with a grin. They put away their gear and walked to the elevator together. Once on the crew deck Katlyn follow Miranda to get her pants, she changed in the bathroom and she put Miranda's shorts in the laundry chute to be cleaned.

Meanwhile...

In Shepard's Quarters

Lenn was pacing in her room, thinking about Katlyn Westen. _Is she really who she says she is? Is she here to destroy me, my ship, my crew, or all of the above? She seems to be quite interested in Lawson, can't say I blame her, that woman is a goddess, and Miranda seems a little more relaxed than when we talked to each other before heading out to Freedom's Progress_. She stopped and stood still, _I'll have to find data on her first to make sure._

She walked over to her comm. unit and pressed the button.

"Kelly, can you please gather any information on a Westen, Katlyn from Earth?"

"Yes Commander, right away ma'am." Kelly said quickly. Lenn let go of the button and walked into her bathroom to take a shower. Lenn turned on the shower after getting out of her uniform and sighed as the hot water started to rain down on her aching muscles. After 15 minutes she got out and dried off. She step out and got into a fresh uniform. It was comfortable enough; Lenn would like them more if they didn't have that cursed logo on it. Cerberus was the ones who took Evelyn from her. She was like Lenn's second mother, and Evelyn was able to escape the Reds earlier than Westen.

Lenn sat down on her bed and untied her hair letting fall around her shoulders. In her hand was Vee's ring, _she told me the night before Akuze that something bad was going to happen and that she might not make it back_. She bowed she head, _she had made me promise to find someone to love. She told me that one day I was going to find a girl that was broken, and that I was the only one that was going to be able to fix her heart and I would find that I would fall for her. I thought Vee was crazy but that night when I returned to the ship we had been on together, without her I believed what she said was true. She didn't tell me what she looked like, or how I was going to meet her, but she said I would know when I found her._

Lenn sighed and placed it on her nightstand. "Sometimes I wish you were still here Vee. You always knew what to do; you would just smile and say that everything will be alright." Lenn thought aloud, suddenly her terminal started to beep. _Damn she's fast_, Lenn thought as she got up and walked up the steps to her desk. Kelly sent her everything she could find on Westen. She clicked open the file and began to read,

**Katlyn Andrea "Kitty" Westen**

**Age: 25**

**Orphaned at age 6.**

**Mother: Danielle Westen**

**Father: Marcus Parks**

**Next of Kin: Half-sister Evelyn Parks (Died on Akuze.)**

**Parents died of red sand overdose leaving 8 year old Evelyn sole caretaker of Katlyn.** _Wait they're sisters. Why didn't either of them tell me? This I'll have to ask about._

**Both joined the 10th Street Reds. Westen was found to have biotics and given a black market L2 implant. Evelyn goes into hiding after death of Betty Patel a sub-leader of the gang at age 12. Katlyn sent to Sassy Cat to become a stripper at age 13.**

**At age 15 raped by a client of the club. She killed him afterwards. At age 16 oversees 4 of the gang's stripper clubs. At age 17, Robert Birch made a deal with Jennifer Martin, Westen's second in command, to kill Westen for her position. Martin found unconscious along with 3 other girls in an alley way. Birch found in the middle of the street with evidence that he was thrown from his home through a window. Westen relocates to Omega for one year. Then relocates to Freedom's Progress. **_Interesting, very interesting. So she was telling the truth, but why didn't she mention that she and Vee were half-sisters? Well I'm going to find out right now._

"EDI, will you please have Katlyn come up to my quarters?"

She saw the blue orb pop up on its stand, "Of course Commander. Is there anything else Ma'am?" The computerized voice asked.

"That's all EDI. Just let me know when Katlyn arrives."

"Yes, Commander, logging you out." With that said the blue orb quickly disappeared. She got out of her chair and returned to her bed. Lenn picked up the ring and held it in her hand once again. 10 minutes later EDI tells Lenn that Katlyn has arrived and is waiting outside her door. She stood up, smoothed out her shirt, and walked to the door. Opening it Lenn found the girl shifting from one foot to the other.

"Come in Katlyn. I have a few more questions for you."

She finally looked up at the commander; there was fear in Katlyn's eyes. She only nodded and nervously walked past Lenn. She closed to the door and locked it, Lenn walked down the steps and to her lounge. Katlyn followed but when Lenn sat down she stood 5 feet from her and Katlyn had her back turned to Lenn.

Katlyn found herself unable to look Shepard in the eye, so she looked at the few fish in the tank. Katlyn was the first to speak, wanting to get this over with. "What is it you want to know Commander?" her voice was shaky from the emotions that she is trying to keep in check.

"Why didn't you tell me, you and Vee were half-sisters?" Lenn asked with a little anger in her voice.

Katlyn sighed and looked down at her feet as tears started to flow from her eyes as she balled her fists. "Lenn yes, it's true that Eve and I were sisters. But you must understand that the two of us had to keep it a secret. For one it's really bad to be the sibling to someone who killed a Lieutenant. I would have been killed if they knew that we were related. When she went into hiding she took one of the few things our parents left us. She left a note that said she was leaving and I was not follow." Katlyn scrubbed her face as the tears fell. She looks over her shoulder at Lenn and said in a quiet voice, "I envy you Lenn."

"Why?" she asked with a look of surprise.

"Because all I have ever wanted as a kid was to be with my sister, I looked up to her. I wanted to go to school, then come home and have her help me on homework or to have her there when I got my first girlfriend. Lenn you got to live my dream." Katlyn sat down on the floor with her head resting on the wall. "The note that said not to follow her, well I ignored it. I knew where she was, she told me that she was going to join the Alliance. She wanted to go to college, to help kids like you and me. That night I left Earth I went to see her one last time, she was pissed at me when she opened the door to find me on the other side. I asked if you were there. She told me that you were out on a date so it was just the two of us."

"What you knew, about me and her?" Lenn asked while getting a little more upset. Katlyn just brought her hands up to calm the commander.

"Yes, I knew. I saw all the pictures of the two of you. Anyway I told her what I'd done, said I was leaving for Omega and then to a colony. The last thing she said to me was that she loved me and wished me luck. She also said that if I ever got the chance to meet you or if I was ever in trouble, she wanted me to find you. She told me to tell you that she was my sister and you would help me."

"What did she mean by that?"

"Mindoir, she didn't say anything about it but I did look it up myself on my way to Omega. All she told me was that you saw her like a daughter would her mother. She said you would do anything to protect the people you considered family, because of what happened to you."

Lenn and Katlyn bowed their heads at the same time, fighting the tears as the memories flowed to the front of their minds. They didn't want to appear weak to each other. Lenn looked up at the same time Katlyn did, she could see the tears that were about to fall. Katlyn reached up and rubbed her face in her hands, Lenn placed the ring she had been holding on the coffee table in front of her.

Katlyn heard the faint clink when it landed on the table. After she removed her hands from her face she got up and walked over to said table and looked down.

"May I?" she asked. Lenn nodded not trusting her voice yet to speak. Katlyn reached down and picked the object up off the table and looked at it. She tilted it and read the words that were etched on the inside. **Forever and a day.** Katlyn smiled as she sat down on the couch. She thought about the dog tag that Evelyn sent her before her death on Akuze along with a picture.

Katlyn guessed she must of had paid an information broker to find her. Smiling then frowning and finally silently sobbing when the memory of when she received a letter with one of Evelyn's tags within it. The letter Evelyn had written was fairly short but Evelyn written that she was getting a bad feeling about her next assignment and that she was sorry for not being there for her. Evelyn said that if she did die, she had given their mother's ring to Lenn for safe keeping. Evelyn asked her to help Lenn when they would meet finally; she told her that Lenn will be in shock when they would because she never told her about her little snotty sister who worshiped the ground she walked on.

Suddenly Katlyn was taken from her memory when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. Together they cried, each with their own set of memories of the lost sister/mother. They sat there for what felt like forever, when they finally broke apart. Katlyn looked at Lenn and asked wearily, "Lenn did she ask you to do anything that day before you hit dirt?"

Lenn look up at the ceiling then at Katlyn while drying her face and nodded. "Vee asked me to take care of someone important to her, she told me that she loved her very much and was regretful for not being the person that someone needed her to be. She told me that the assignment to Akuze was giving her a bad vibe like she wasn't going to come back from it. She handed me that ring and told me how it belong to her mother and that she wanted me to have it. I asked why she wanted me to look after this person, and she told me that the person was her little sister. She didn't tell me your name and I never made the connection when I met you. You had the same father right?" Katlyn nodded she couldn't believe her sister regretted not being there for her. Katlyn wasn't a religious person, not by a long shot, but she silently said thanks and sent a prayer to her sister.

"Lenn, there is something else I need to tell you."

"What is it Katlyn?"

"Ummm... I received a letter from Vee a few weeks after Akuze. Vee asked me to help you in some way. She told me you would armor your heart again if she died, and in the letter she begged me to help you find someone. It was kind of weird and considering whom I am, I'm not the best person for that kind of thing, but Vee did ask and I won't refuse her request. Truth be told I know the perfect girl for you; the only problem is she's kind of hard to find and doesn't like Cerberus very much. I'm kind of afraid she'll go into the human equivalent to the Krogan blood rage if she ever saw the logo. I also know she has problem with authority and people who are... well... kind of like Miranda, which could kind of hurt my chances of getting a date with your lovely XO.

"Miranda?" Lenn ask her. Katlyn nodded with a smile. "Why Miranda?"

Katlyn shrugged. "There's just something about her. It has nothing to do with her body, though that is bonus. I feel like I could tell her anything and she wouldn't do what Jen did to me. She seems like the kind of person that once you get past her walls she actually is a really warm, compassionate, and loving woman. You know?"

Lenn nodded in understanding. "I think you got your work cut out for you, but as long as you don't hurt her, I wish you the best of luck. So this girl you were talking about, can you tell me anything about her?"

"Nope, you'll find out yourself when the time's right!" Katlyn said with a smug smile.

"Okay, thanks for telling me about the other stuff." Katlyn nodded her head and said goodnight to Lenn. Lenn returned the farewell and Katlyn left to go get some food and sleep.


End file.
